Man convicted of stealing presents

Thursday

Nov 1, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 1, 2012 at 12:02 AM

A South Peoria man faces up to 30 years in prison for stealing Christmas presents last winter with his three brothers.

Jurors deliberated for a few hours before finding Sherman D. Williams, 36, of 2708 W. Marquette Ave., guilty of residential burglary in connection with the Dec. 20, 2011, incident in the 2000 block of West Garden Street.

Andy Kravetz

A South Peoria man faces up to 30 years in prison for stealing Christmas presents last winter with his three brothers.

Jurors deliberated for a few hours before finding Sherman D. Williams, 36, of 2708 W. Marquette Ave., guilty of residential burglary in connection with the Dec. 20, 2011, incident in the 2000 block of West Garden Street.

Williams and his brothers, Jeffrey L. Williams, 34, of 2012 W. Marquette Ave., Sontarius Williams, 27, 1918 W. Marquette Ave. and Cordero Ivory, 26, of 2018 W. Ann St., kicked in the back door of the house and stole two TVs, two gaming consoles, and all of the presents for the family's seven children, according to prosecutor Seth Uphoff.

Police recovered all the items the next day when they searched Jeffrey Williams' home after being tipped to the Williams brothers involvement. There, Uphoff said at trial, police found the presents, some of which had new wrapping paper on them.

Sherman Williams' attorney William Loeffel contended his client wasn't there and that the person called by the state to accuse his client wasn't creditable. Uphoff countered that this person saw Sherman Williams and the others carry items out the house.

Jeffrey Williams and Sontarius Williams were to go to trial with Sherman but opted to plead guilty on Monday to 90-month and six-year prison sentences, respectively. Ivory pleaded guilty Oct. 1 to theft and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years behind bars.

Sherman Williams faces an extended sentence because of his past criminal history, which included a 2005 drug conviction that sent him to prison for 10 years.

Andy Kravetz can be reached at 686-3283 or akravetz@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @andykravetz.